"Hi Evelyn, I'm Queenie. Let's be friends," said a girl.
"I'm Zack Wan. You're pretty. I want to be friends with you too. Monica, look at Evelyn! She looks like a real princess," said a boy.
The classroom was abuzz, thanks to Evelyn. The noise level rose appreciably, because everyone wanted to talk to the new girl.
Evelyn pointed at Zack Wan's face and said, "Dirty. Go Away. Monica, Queenie…friends."
Debbie, who kept hidden so she could see how Evelyn's first day went, covered her face with both hands. 'Oh God! She's a clean freak just like her dad.'
The next afternoon, Debbie went to kindergarten to pick up Evelyn. Lucinda conferred with Debbie. "I can't explain it. Everyone in class was so clean. Some even had new clothes. I think it's Evelyn. She doesn't like dirty kids. Ha-ha! Kids are so funny."
The story amused Debbie. At the same time, she felt a little helpless at Evelyn's obsession with cleanliness. "Did she behave?" she asked her aunt.
Lucinda cast a sidelong glance at Evelyn, who was hand in hand with Monica Yu, and said in a whisper, "Well, yeah, but she doesn't want to be friends with everyone. And she isn't too shy to say so. You should have a talk with her about being nicer. Anyway, she's a polite girl."
Debbie didn't know how to respond. She knew Evelyn pretty well. Evelyn clammed up around people she didn't like. Debbie had talked to Evelyn about this before, and Evelyn promised that she would be friends with every kid. But the truth was she would still act the same.
"Got it, Aunt Lucinda. I'll talk to her," Debbie said.
"Okay. Hey, if you're busy, you don't have to pick her up every day. I'll just take her to my place," Lucinda offered. She liked Evelyn a lot, and she thought it was perfectly normal for the kids to love her too.
"Sure. Pi— Evelyn, time to go. Say goodbye to Lucinda," Debbie called out. She wanted to call her Piggy at first, but then thought of what Evelyn had told her last night. Last night, she told her that she was Evelyn in public.
"Monica, bye! Going home. Lucinda, bye!"
"Bye, Evelyn!"
At ZL Group
Carlos had just hung up on Evelyn. He asked her if she was used to kindergarten, and felt relieved after getting a positive answer. She liked it there.
Frankie knocked on the door and came in.
"Mr. Huo, I found it." Frankie put a stack of documents on the desk.
Carlos picked up one of the sheets of paper, and his smile vanished. "Tell me," he ordered.
Frankie heaved a long sigh of relief and said, "Three years ago, when you took Miss Nian to the Huo family's house in New York, James and your grandma caused trouble between you. And Miss Lan also tried her best to do so. But that's not why you're divorced. We also found the doctor. Three years ago, he left the hospital and went abroad. When we found him, he told us everything. After the car accident, you fell into a coma. And that's when James decided to really mess with Miss Nian, even bullying her into leaving you, and threatening her unborn child. James kidnapped and drugged her. Then he had doctors standing by to perform an abortion by force if she didn't sign divorce papers. The doctor I talked to saw everything."
Frankie paused for a while, and continued, "James even doctored the photo of Debbie in another man's arms, using Photoshop and a picture of Debbie, taken while she was in a coma. We tracked down the Photoshop whiz, too. James paid him well.
James told Miss Nian you were dead. But you weren't. You were still in a coma but out of danger, so James had a doctor inject you with a drug to slow your breathing and heartbeat down, to make you appear dead. When Miss Nian saw you after the injection, she really thought you were dead."
As if the story was too much for Frankie to bear, he stopped for a while. "But James wasn't through. He hired men to kidnap Sasha Mu and forced Miss Nian to write the document you've already seen. Miss Nian refused at the beginning, but one of the men threatened to **** Miss Mu. Left with no choice, Miss Nian did as she was told.
In order to make your death more convincing, James even bought a gravestone and asked Miss Nian to attend the funeral. I also called Mr. Lu. He said that James had tried to play the caring father then. Mr. Li and Mr. Han were taken in by it. If you have any doubts, talk to Mr. Lu."
It was a lot to take in. Frankie paused again, letting Carlos process everything. This was quite a blow. James had been his most trusted adviser, and now he was exposed as a villain. Every single sentence was like a sharp knife stabbing Carlos' heart.
'How much pain had she endured all these years? And this is all because of James Huo!' Carlos thought.
"Why does James hate Debbie so much?" he asked.
"He always wanted you to marry Stephanie Li, but you never listened to him. When the accident happened, he concocted a plan to deal with Miss Nian."
After a brief moment of consideration, Carlos ordered, "I need a thorough background check on James. I need his criminal history, financial records, aliases, known acquaintances, and employees. If necessary, I'll fly to New York to ask Grandma."
"Yes, Mr. Huo."
"One more thing, Mr. Huo. We're still investigating his activities with the ZL Group. He's gathered several senior executives as allies," Frankie said calmly.
Carlos supported his forehead with one hand and said in a hoarse voice, "Don't do anything too hasty. I'll deal with them when I'm ready. They'll know what I'm capable of once I'm done."
"Yes, Mr. Huo," Frankie answered and left the office.
Carlos leaned back in his seat and lost himself in self-reflection.
Three days later, Carlos walked into a private hospital in the city, flanked by Frankie and two bodyguards.
Since the car accident, Carlos had been getting treated at this hospital. He still had to take pills every day and injections every three months. They explained it was to get his strength back after the coma, and he retained the same doctor. This had all been pre-arranged by James.
Carlos entered the doctor's office with a calm expression.
"Good morning, Dr. Zhu," Carlos greeted the doctor.
The doctor looked fifty years old if he was a day, and was the assistant director of the hospital. He had excellent medical skills, and had acquired no small amount of fame. He had quite a few patients, and an even longer waiting list.
When he saw Carlos, the doctor stood up and walked towards him. "Mr. Huo, you're here! I've already prepped the syringe. We can start now, if you like."
He knew a CEO like Carlos was quite busy and had almost no time to wait for him, so he got everything ready an hour before Carlos was due to arrive.
As usual, Carlos followed the doctor into the exam room.
The doctor took out a small bottle of medicine. He plunged the needle into the stopper, drew the liquid out with a syringe and pressed the plunger to clear the air from it.
Carlos rolled up his sleeve. When the doctor was about to administer the injection, Carlos grabbed his wrist and stared at him with murderous eyes.
